


growing up woes

by iooiu



Series: you gave me six years [1]
Category: Wakfu
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Fluff and Humor, Gen, but i guess i'll make it myself its fine, but like... aggressively, i've been wanting content for these two ever since season 1, set after qilby and before ogrest, the rest of the brotherhood is mentioned but don't make a strong appearance, this is 6k of pure self indulgence and unreliable tags lol, ya know.. the six years they all spent together that i was robbed of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25777666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iooiu/pseuds/iooiu
Summary: Adamai is restless with the need to rest and Yugo is tired with the need to move. It's really just the same problem fixed with a simple solution; a vacation from peace times.
Relationships: Adamaï & Yugo (Wakfu)
Series: you gave me six years [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874104
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	growing up woes

**Author's Note:**

> if u like good fics then maybe don't read this lol. No but I'm dead serious when i say there is not nearly enough content with these two; like where's all the cute idiotic tooth-rotting brotherly bonding?? where??

Adamai was restless again.

Yugo could feel it, even in his own bed under the warmth of his covers, he could feel the dragon’s thoughts spiraling, and how even though he wasn’t in the room, could tell he was pacing around outside.

He wasn’t going to get any sleep with the other’s constant tumble of thoughts breaking through their connection, and Yugo had no energy in him to cut it off and forcefully shut Adamai up. It would chase away any remnants of sleep just as efficiently as anything else, but it would also leave him with a headache because Adamai was stubborn. It was going to be another sleepless night for the books.

With a heavy heart he abandoned his bed.

The cool night air brushed against his bare arms like long icy fingers, trailing down his skin and leaving goosebumps in its wake. Yugo suppressed a shiver, rubbing his upper arms in an effort to regain some of his stolen warmth as he searched for his idiot brother. Above him, the clouds gathered around, shadowing the ground below and suffocating any moonlight. He could barely see past his own fingertips, but he trusted in his instincts to take him to the roof where he knew Adamai was, and a quick portal was all it took to soundlessly plop next to him.

Adamai was restless, and not everybody would be able to tell with him sitting as silently as he was. But Yugo could tell. Could tell by the way his tail twitched against the soft whispered breeze, how his snout was wrinkled and how his scales weren’t as preened and straightened as usual. He kept clawing at the shingles beneath him, and Yugo would have liked to sympathize had he not been so damn tired.

“Go to sleep Ad.” Yugo yawned, failing at hiding his next shiver and curling his legs from under him to rest his head. He could honestly fall asleep right then and there, the cold be damned, but the annoying buzz that was Adamai in his mind kept him from doing so no matter where he was. What a jerk.

“You go, there’s nothing stopping you.”

“Yes, there is, and it’s your annoying lizard brain.”

Adamai absent-mindedly rubbed at where Yugo poked him in the head, eyes trailing over the endless expanse of inky clouds, yet not seeing any of it, just like he always looked when he was thinking. Yugo settled himself more comfortably on the roof.

Winter was approaching quickly, anyone with a brain could tell, and the thin, almost delicate layer of frost coating the railings and door handles were proof enough of that. Yugo would go so far as to say the frost was growing on his own skin too, because he was really cold and so, so tired.

“I want to go.”

“Any place in mind?” He indulged instead, and Adamai spared him a glance.

“Far away from all these people.”

“You don’t like my village?”

“No no.” Adamai sighed in frustration, knowing full well that Yugo knew what he meant. Yugo chuckled softly, turning his eyes upwards and watching the near invisible thread of his wispy breath twirl into the sky.

“Oma was never quiet, you know. The forest was always buzzing-“

“Like your head.”

“-and it was never this dark because of all the little bugs and plants.”

Down below, not a single candle was lit. It was late, well past midnight, and only a few hours until morning, and all the sane people of the village slept soundly to the silent tune of the air.

“Do you want to go back?”

“No, it would be weird.”

Yugo hummed, closing his eyes and wondering if his toes were frozen or not. He couldn’t tell, he couldn’t really feel them.

“Would you like to go to Sadida?”

“No, too noisy.”

“You’re a picky dragon.”

“All dragons are picky.” Adamai sighed, finally dropping his gaze and shuffling closer to Yugo, who giddily leaned into the warmth emitting from his silver scales better than any fire place could. “There’s just too many noises and not enough quiet.”

“It’s quite enough out here.”

“Yeah, but it’s too quiet, not the right kind of quiet.”

Yugo gave Adamai a look from beside him, but remained silent and let Adamai warm him up against the chill. He was still restless, but the insistent buzzing had since calmed down to an unhappy hum, and Yugo could sleep with that.

“Let’s go back inside before we get sick.”

“You’re the only one who’s going to get sick.”

“Oh? And when I do get sick, I’ll make sure to cough on you.”

“That’s gross.”

Yugo laughed, helping Adamai up and opening a portal for both of them.

When he fell asleep, it was to Adamai’s dissatisfied sigh and a weird feeling swimming in his chest.

He didn’t sleep very well.

. . .

Unlike his brother, Yugo was tired.

He woke up alright, and he woke up with the same refreshed energy that always came when waking up in the morning, but by midday he was exhausted all over again. Grougaloragran zipped around on tiny wings like the true menace he was, and Chibi giggled when the small black dragon ran straight into Yugo’s stomach with the speed of a meteor and then some.

He was lucky his stomach was empty, and was even more lucky that Adamai had been behind him, because that fall would’ve hurt and puking is never pleasent, and he was in no mood to be sporting bruises because some pesky little dragon had violent tendencies in the morning.

“Grougal, calm down.” He muttered half-heartedly, rubbing at his sore stomach and watching the evil reptile cackle before jumping up onto Chibi’s lap in an almost smug matter.

“Ah, to be young and free.” Adamai hummed, letting go of Yugo’s hand to serve everyone’s bread. Alibert seemed to have opened the inn earlier, because of the upcoming winter or because he just could, Yugo had yet to find out, but he could honestly care less. He plopped himself across from Chibi, eyeing the unappetizing bread placed before him. He was in no mood to fill his sore stomach, let alone fill it up with something so dry and bland.

Alibert could not have made this sad looking clump of dough, no way. It was too lumpy and the crust looked too crispy and it wasn’t even colored right.

Adamai had to have made it, there was no other explanation.

“What, Grougal made you lose your appetite?”

He glared at the white dragon, but pushed his plate away and went to grab some water instead.

“Your loss, Alibert had made it last night.” Adamai hummed in mock defeat, happily munching on the false bread like the smug prick he was.

Oh, he was going to get it, he _was._ Maybe cutting off the connection wouldn’t be such a bad thing if it meant he’d finally be able to _think_ without having the stupid dragon butt into his brain.

He dumped the rest of the water down the drain and slipped on his apron. Might as well start the day early, and who knows. Maybe he’ll get to sleep earlier if he finished up faster.

Adamai watched Yugo drag himself into the kitchen and thoughtfully chewed at the bread he had accidentally burned yesterday. Something was up, that was for sure.

_Adamai, I’m literally begging you to shut up._

Someone _didn’t get all his baby sleep last night._ Adamai replied, failing to hide his cackling when Yugo’s angry breathing could be heard from the table.

_Wonder whose fault that is. Now shut it._

Oh yeah, something was definitely up.

. . .

“I need a vacation.” Yugo’s groaned, falling gracelessly on the bed and flinging an arm over his eyes. Across the room, on a bed parallel to his own, Adamai didn’t even spare the teen a glance.

“I’ve been giving small hints on leaving, glad to know you just caught on after five months.”

“Ad, I’m not joking.”

“Neither am I.”

Yugo turned to Adamai, and promptly turned around to face the wall when he saw the dragon was, indeed, not joking.

. . .

Adamai was on the roof again, but it was a warmer night, and so Yugo didn’t hate his guts as much when he appeared behind him to gaze at the clear sky.

“I’m starting to get the feeling that it’s your goal to keep me from sleeping.”

“I try my best.”

Yugo sat down beside him with a sigh that rattled his lungs.

“Let’s go somewhere.”

“Where could we possibly go? How could be we just up and vanish on the twins and dad like that?”

“He’s not out dad.”

Yugo wordlessly looked at the stars, trying his hardest to ignore the vacuum of space forming below his throat and squeezing his words out before he could speak.

“He’s the best thing we’ve got.”

Adamai hummed, and shifted so his arms rested on his open knees, eyes never straying from the sky, where not a single cloud cluttered away the shining dots imbedded in the darkness.

“Something’s on your mind. Spit it out before I go crazy.”

“I could say the same thing.” Yugo shot back lazily, content with leaning back on his hands and taking in the massive expanse of flickering specs painted over a black canvas. It was almost as if he could smear it, if he just reached up and wiped his finger across the sky, the stars would be imbedded into his skin and he would have reached them without conjuring a single portal.

“I’ve been saying what’s on my mind, but you choose not to listen.”

“You want to leave, yes, but why?”

“Do we really need a reason?”

“To disappear for who-knows-how long, yes, yes we do.”

It was Adamai’s turn to sigh, and for once the constant bubbling restless energy residing in his brother took the form of longing sorrow, of a bird beating its wings against his ribcage and trying to reach the stars.

“Let’s go, just me and you. We can go find some quiet island.”

“Like Oma?”

“Maybe.”

“Something’s bothering you, what is it?”

“You know,” Adamai turned to him, brows furrowed in agitation, and his tail swept across the shingled roof beneath them. “you’re always expecting me to pour out my heart and soul, but you never do the same. Do I _look_ stupid to you?”

“Only a little.” Yugo laughed tiredly, accepting the soft punch on his shoulder.

“I can _tell_ , you know. It’s actually really annoying. You sound like a dying whale.”

“Real rich coming from you and your angry tantrums.”

“I’m a dragon, I don’t have tantrums.”

This time Yugo laughed for real, and settled on smiling in his lap, where he picked at a blue thread peeking out of his shirt’s hem. He’d have to get that fixed later.

“So, I’ve already said my half, so I’ll say the other half once you’ve spilled.”

“How do I know if you will though?” Yugo asked, though his smile never wavered.

“Well, no point in keeping half a secret, is there?”

He hummed in agreement, getting up and stretching his arms above his head. The sun would be out soon, and what little rest he could obtain, he wanted it.

“Let’s head back, I’m tired.”

And with that Yugo disappeared into his portal, leaving the young dragon to slowly descend through their bedroom window.

“That’s only half the truth.” He grumbled into the sky.

. . .

Grougal was a real nightmare.

If Adamai was restless, then Grougal was rest _ful_ and brimming with energy bursting at the seams. He chittered endlessly and never ceased his rapid flying. It was like trying to calm down a tsunami.

“Grougal, just sit still for two seconds!” Yugo cried, once again failing to catch the black terror and landing in a dizzy heap on the floor. Grougal cackled, flying up before diving away from Adamai, who landed on top of the mess on the floor known as his brother.

“I think you’ve done it.” He wheezed, laying face first on the ground. “You’ve squished all my organs into a mush, congrats.”

“Ah, thank you. I’d like to dedicate this award to my lovely little brother-“

“Just get off of me.”

Adamai reluctantly obliged.

. . .

Chibi was the light to Grougal’s darkness.

He was cheerful most of the time, and being the sweet two-year-old he was, simply blabbered about one thing or another to anyone who would listen.

But Chibi cried a lot. Over the smallest things like Grougal taking his ball or his tower of blocks falling to the ground. It was incredible how loud such a tiny thing could be.

Like now, for instance, as he wailed for his brother to let go of his hat, and how Grougal refused to let go said hat. Yugo tried prying his tiny jaws off, but they were clamped shut, and Yugo was starting to get the feeling they would be seeing some fire soon if he kept pulling.

He sighed and let go, slipping the hat off the boy’s head and watching the dragon whip it around like a cat to a dead mouse, just a lot more aggressive. Chibi cried, reaching for the beloved black hat that was currently being mauled by his evil dragon brother, and Yugo ended up wrapping the boy in a dark blanket to calm him down.

“Little demon.” Yugo muttered, glaring at Grougal, who finally let go of the hat and turned his snout in the air defiantly.

Where was Adamai when he needed him.

_Awe, it’s good to know I’m being missed._

_You’re lucky I’m preoccupied at the moment. Where are you?_

_I’m in our room._

_What? I thought you were running the errands today!_

_I did, you big baby, and now I’m not._

Yugo huffed, listening to Adamai snicker in his head before dragging back Chibi’s tattered hat.

“Damn, this is gonna’ be a pain to fix.”

Chibi nestled further into his blankets, content with being held in a warm cocoon for the time being.

. . .

This time Yugo didn’t even try to go to bed. He simply marched out of the house and teleported onto the roof, sitting down with the weight of the world on his shoulder.

“So, ready to spill today, or are we going to abort again?” Adamai asked, turning to watch Yugo with wide, calculating eyes.

“I can’t believe we’re related.”

“You know, it’s actually super weird. You were hatched from a dofus, like Az.”

Yugo did think about this concept a lot, and found his head hurt every time just trying to understand how that was even possible. He doesn’t think about it as often now, and just accepted it as another fact of life.

“If you were to go somewhere, where would you go?”

“I already told you.”

“Right,” Yugo huffed, “a remote island.”

“Hey, it doesn’t have to be an island. But remote sounds nice.”

“So, are _you_ going to be me what’s up?”

“Oh no, don’t turn this on me bro, you first.”

Yugo sighed, leaning further back and grimacing at the dull ache in his shoulders he reawakened. He stretched them until his arms couldn’t stretch anymore, and thrived in the pain coursing through his joints until it faded and his shoulders became less stiff.

“I don’t know. You don’t seem like the type of person I would confide in.”

“Okay, so one, I’m not a person, I’m a dragon. And two, you just admitted to having something to confess; so drop it.”

“You drop it.”

Adamai let out a breath in irritation, and hit Yugo in the head, earning him soft whines.

“You’re being a baby. And then you ask me why I can’t sleep at night.”

Oh, _oh no he didn’t._ Adamai wasn’t against going below the belt for playing dirty, was he? Oh no, this little dragon was a nasty lizard who happened to be Yugo’s brother. How, he did not know. Guilt tripping? Is that what he was doing now? He must be out of ideas if he’s resorting to that.

“I can hear you thinking, and it’s not that complicated.” Adamai got and plopped himself in front of Yugo, picking his claws free of dirt and sparing Yugo an impatient glance. “Now hurry it up so we can both get some sleep.”

“You’re such a pain.”

“I try.”

Yugo sighed for the umpteenth time, spreading his legs so his feet brushed Adamai’s folded ones, and looked at the sky. Today was clear, but if he squinted hard enough, he could make out thin, wispy clouds floating aimlessly in the winds. They did nothing to deter the shining stars above them.

“I’m just… really tired.”

“I know.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“There’s gotta’ be a reason dumby.”

Yugo thought about that. He was tired. So, _so_ damn tired, and all he wanted to do was sleep, and yet every night ended up being sleepless. He would watch Adamai’s still form and would toss and turn and listen to his own breathing for hours, and by the time the sun rose he was ready to be knocked out.

Well, in reality he knew he wasn’t actually tired.

He was restless.

There had been a strange _something_ thrumming in his veins since they visited their friends in Sadida a few months prior. It was swimming in the depths of his stomach and yearning for something beyond his reach. He watched Eva and Dally’s kids run around and laugh with them while Amalia complained about how her brother was constantly setting her up and how bored she was. When they had bidden farewell with long hugs and head ruffles, Yugo couldn’t help but notice how he his face still mushed against their stomachs, and how despite knowing them for years, they seemed to be changing while he was stuck. He didn’t know how else to put it; he just didn’t want to be stuck, he wanted to move, to _grow._

“Man, you are so inarticulate.”

“Says you. Now it’s your turn.”

“Fine.”

Yugo felt something shift in his gut, and suddenly the world was way too loud and way too quiet. The feather soft wind whispered in his ears and the buzz of the streets around them grated at his ears like silent teeth gnawing at his brain. The sky was too close and the ground was too high and he really wanted to jump up and fly into the expanse above the clouds. Above the stars where there wouldn’t be any people. Because the people were loud; in their breathing and in their laughter.

He wanted to be alone, flying, having fun in a comfortable quiet. He wanted to be with something familiar for once, and not amongst all this strangeness.

“Being alone on Oma so long did a number on you bro.” Yugo replied when the feeling dissipated and all that was left was his tired need to run.

“Are you calling me an introvert.”

“Well you’re definitely not a peoples-person.”

“Har har.” And with that they fell into a peaceful quiet filled with nothing but their even breaths and the truth in the air.

“So, vacation?”

Yugo laughed.

. . .

That morning Alibert gave Yugo the errands.

“Adamai’s been doing them all week. Go get some fresh air for a little bit.” Was what he had instructed before promptly kicking Yugo out of the house with a bag and some kamas.

I’ve been getting plenty of air, don’t worry, he thought tiredly, eyeing the list in his hands.

_I know you’re blaming me, and for the record, it’s not my fault._

_Oh quit it you pesky lizard._

_That’s a new one._

. . .

He would never actually admit it, but walking around town had felt beyond good. His legs had a dull ache near his hips from being used after so long, and his mind felt refreshed after getting his tasks done. He had even stopped by the forest edge to pick out some twigs for Az’s nest. He could’ve gone without Adamai’s smug ‘I told you so’, but he took it in stride.

“Someone’s looking fresh.”

“No thanks to you. Are we going to actually sleep tonight?”

“I don’t know, depends on if you’re going to have an emotional crisis.”

“Real rich coming from you. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say your scales are getting too small.”

“You know, I do need to shed at some point, it’s getting really itchy.

Yugo wrinkled his nose but nodded, taking off his hat to comb through his tangled hair (those twigs hadn’t actually been just lying there; they had belonged to some angry, territorial bird with a nasty habit of clawing at his face) and grimacing when it got stuck on a particularly tangled knot above the base of his head, at the back of his skull.

“So I was talking to Sribble-“

“Since when did you talk to _him_?”

“-let me finish. So I was talking to him, and he gave me some cool locations to go to.”

“He listened to you?”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“I am, I am,” Yugo hummed in gratitude when Adamai successfully detangled his hair and ran the comb through, “I’m just… I don’t really think that’ll help me.”

“Who said this trip was for you?” Adamai grinned, handing the comb back to Yugo before shuffling into his bed, inspecting his wings with little interest.

“Well, where is it then?”

“I three days trip North of Sadida, so we can see your friends while we’re at it.”

Somehow that made the distant pangs in his stomach more apparent.

“Nah, we can just go straight.”

“Okay, _now_ something’s up.”

It was tiring, having his thoughts open to a stubborn dragon like Adamai, but it made explaining things easier, though it wasn’t in his greatest interest to do so at the moment. Because right now all he wanted to do was sleep so the soreness residing in his legs would go away.

“You’re afraid of something, I can tell. But you know, kicking me out is quite rude.”

Mentally, Yugo shut the connection even tighter. He needed one night to himself, one night to recharge, and then he’d face whatever conclusion Adamai came up with.

“If you go on the roof, just make sure to close the window behind you.”

Adamai did not, in fact, go up that night, but neither of them slept.

. . .

“And make sure you get what I asked for! It’ll be pay back for the days you’ll miss.”

“Alright, alright, I got it.” Yugo reassured, but chuckled when Alibert encompassed his small frame in a large hug. He eyed the dragon awkwardly standing by the door, and used one of his big arms to scoop him up as well.

“Have fun, and make sure you come back on time!”

“We got it Alibert.” Adamai sighed, but anyone could tell he was just embarrassed. Yugo grinned one last time and hugged Chibi while Grougal nipped at Adamai’s wings.

“We’ll be back in no time.”

. . .

It was their third day on the road, and the first one they spent on foot (Adamai complained about Yugo being too heavy to carry despite insisting they fly throughout the day), and they were to reach the kingdom of Sadida by nightfall.

“We can skip over them and walk further. No need to bother them.”

“Let’s take a break.”

“You hungry?”

“Sure.”

Adamai started a small fire while Yugo dug through their packs for bread. They were going to restock at the next town, but Yugo kept complaining about not wanting to intrude into Amalia’s palace despite Adamai knowing that they would be more than welcomed there.)

“We should just rest at the palace. A nice bed outta’ fix you.”

“Are you saying my bed isn’t nice?”

“Something like that.”

They both chewed thoughtlessly on their snack, enjoying the warmth the fire provided against the chilly wind. By the time his bread was finished, Yugo’s fingers were numb.

“Let’s get going then.”

. . .

Adamai didn’t manage to change his brother’s mind, and by midnight they reached a small town probably not even on Yugo’s Shushu map. They bought themselves a room in an old inn and ate their last remaining bread and jerky before calling it a night.

Or well, that had been the plan until Adamai got up and dragged Yugo to a nearby hill overlooking the small town (it wasn’t even a town more than it was a cluster of buildings in the same spot).

“Imagine; we could’ve been sleeping in a palace right now.”

“Lay off, will you? And why did you come out here? We’re doing exactly what you’ve been wanting to do for months.”

“Yup, and I _would_ be having the time of my life if I didn’t have a mopey brother to drag around.”

“I’m not mopey.”

“Look,” Adamai started, eyes trained on the stars that peaked through the scattered clouds. The wind was biting cold and whipped at their skin, but Yugo’s coat kept him warm and Adamai, well, he was a dragon, and dragons didn’t get cold. “Consider this as me returning the favor for fixing my problem.”

“So you admit to have had a problem?”

“No. Now, out with it.”

“You’re very convincing, you know. I would’ve been fooled with all your kindness.”

“Oh please, you don’t get to have both, and you get to see me at my nicest all the time anyway.”

“I wouldn’t want to know what your meanest is.”

“Can you just get whatever is bothering you off your mind so you can get out of _my_ mind and we can both sleep? Are do you _like_ moping around. I can’t actually tell.”

Yugo let out a breathless laugh and leaned his back on the ground, readying his words so that at least Adamai could have a piece of mind.

“I just, I look at all our friends, and how their all growing older. I mean, Eva and Dally have _kids_ now, and…”

And I’m sick and tired of being stuck in a body that doesn’t represent my mind. I’m sick of this slow aging that won’t allow any of my friends to see me mature. By the time I look of age they’ll all be white-haired and shriveled, most likely dead. And we’ll have to watch each and every one of them die, and then we’ll have to make new friends only for the whole thing to start over.

“There’s more to it.”

Think about it. When we die, we’ll forget everything that happened here. All of our friends and our adventures and the people we saved. I don’t want to forget these things, these precious people. But it’s inevitable, just like them growing up is inevitable. We’ll watch them and we’ll stay where we are.

“You know Yugo, we’ve probably had this conversation before, in previous lives, but you don’t remember that sorrow now."

“Still hurts to think about _now_.” He sighed tiredly, suddenly feeling light and dancing on the bridge between and awake and asleep. He just wanted to _sleep._

“Then don’t think about it _now_.”

. . .

They made it to the cluster of islands Scribble had told them about, and if Yugo was being honest, he was glad Adamai had convinced him to come. The air was fresh, and the sounds were rich and loud and natural compared to the clutter of a town or city. There was a relatively small town on the edge of one of the islands, connected to the mainland by nothing but a zap portal, and the twins bought a room in the inn there for the next few nights.

Adamai finally got to breathe, and even shed his scales at some point, because he had come back to the inn looking shinier and nimbler than before, as if he’d cleaned off the rust in his limbs and polished his skin until it gleamed.

“Now _this_ was the vacation we needed.”

“It’s kinda’ funny. A vacation from peace times.”

“Don’t say it like that, it makes us sound evil.”

. . .

On their way back, Adamai convinced Yugo to stop at the Sadida palace. Apparently, their little chat (“it wasn’t even a chat though”) helped him release some of his nervousness, and he was more than open to the idea of seeing their friends again.

Maybe it was the fear that their time together was limited, or maybe it was because Yugo temporarily got over his issue; Adamai didn’t care what it was so long as he got to sleep in a bed worthy of kings and got the endless options of food to eat without paying a single kama.

When they were received by the guards and brought to the main palace where Amalia lived, Yugo was instantly burrowed within the confines of the princess’s arms in a hug that was probably crushing his lungs. He laughed, gently rubbing the girl’s back until she let go to pat Adamai on the head.

“What are you two doing here? Not that you’re not unwelcome. Come in, come in.”

“We’re returning from vacation,” Adamai spoke when Yugo didn’t answer, but he was okay, because he wasn’t being mopey anymore, and Adamai was grateful for the lack of dying whale noises in his head.

“And pray-tell what you guys were vacationing from?”

“The great and powerful Grougaloragran.”

Amalia giggled and led them to their rooms.

“Well, I’m sure you’re weary, but please come join me for dinner in an hour? I would love to catch up!”

“Yeah, we’ll do that,” Yugo answered, giving her a smile and one last hug before following his brother further into the room.

“You know, eventually you’ll get taller, and then you won’t suffocate in everyone’s stomachs,” Adamai said offhandedly, jumping into his plush bed and sighing in content. His wings ached from flying, and he just _knew_ there wouldn’t be any midnight strolls on the roof tonight.

“You say that, and yet you’re shorter than me.”

“Don’t get too comfortable. Dragons grow in stages. Just watch, soon I’ll be three times as big and then you’ll be digging your own grave.”

“I bet even Ruel’s little pet Dhreller is bigger than you.”

“Now you’re pushing it.”

“Or maybe Elely, she’s growing pretty fast for a one-year-old.”

Yugo laughed from underneath his brother, barely registering the sting that came with falling on the ground, and Adamai huffed, adjusting himself so he was laying perpendicular to Yugo, head cushioned on the boy’s stomach. It would have been so much more comfortable on the palace beds they had been provided and would have looked less ridiculous too, but no one was here to judge them and they really didn’t have enough energy to care.

“Well my dear brother, consider my debt repaid.”

“Mm, well, at least we’re even.”

“Actually, I think you owe me for taking you on vacation.”

“No way, I bought more dinners than you did. “

“Fair fair, now, I’m going to run the longest bath in the history of the World of Twelve, in fact, I might just sleep in there. Think about how shiny my scales will be after that.”

“No fair, I need one too. Let me take a shower first.”

“Ah, but I owe you nothing little bro.”

“ _You’re_ the little bro.”

. . .

They’ve been back for a whole week, and it had been the most rejuvenating week of Yugo’s life (“You’re so dramatic.”). He slept soundly for hours, and the strange thrumming in his chest died down to the softest flutter of butterfly wings; still there, probably never to leave, but barely detectable underneath the storm known as Adamai.

Adamai himself was a lot less antsy, and Yugo was thankful for the lack of sleepless nights spent on rooftops trying to touch the stars with frozen fingers and whispering comebacks through chattering teeth. Winter’s first harsh chills came and went, and soon there was a thin layer of white coating the grassy meadows bordering the village.

“That vacation did you a solid.”

“It was your vacation, I just tagged along,” Yugo replied, shuffling in his bed and hanging up his hat. From across the room, in a bed parallel to his own, Adamai finished preening his wings.

“Yeah, though it was a lot more fun than if I had gone alone.”

“And you call me the sappy baby.” Yugo laughed gently, and decided he deserved the pillow to the face.

Once Ad got his pillow back, the dragon kicked off his blankets (he was always too hot) and Yugo took them for himself (he was always too cold), and Adamai blew out the candles with one long breath, succumbing them in a dull darkness.

“I’m being serious.”

Because despite not liking being bossed around and having everybody in his business where it didn’t belong (none of them were _their_ people and they had no right to have a say in what _they_ did), Adamai didn’t actually like being alone. It reminded Yugo of Qilby, as much as it hurt to think about, and decided that he much rather go with someone than be alone. It was too quiet, and Yugo had gotten used to Adamai’s constant head chatter.

And if he were being honest, he was grateful for the trip. Adamai was stubborn, much more so than Yugo was most of the time, but he was sincere in his actions (even if he never admitted it, being the hot-headed lizard he was). Being connected had its drawbacks, but it made understanding each other easier at least, and it was worth the countless headaches he got when the young dragon got angry at someone (which was much more common than you would think).

The faint butterfly wings were also a nice alternative to the painful buzzing of a thousand distant bees, and in a way, he felt like he’d grown up. Being caught in the past and in the future was painful enough without the slow aging to tag along, but if he could make it better, than might as well stay in the present.

Adamai, despite Yugo’s teasing, was growing too. It was undetectable to those who weren’t always with him, but Yugo could see it. He could see the way his scales were getting bigger and the way his teeth were sharpening. Could see his tail growing longer, even if it was by an inch, and Yugo didn’t really know how dragon growth worked, but if what Adamai had said was true, then his next growth spurt wasn’t that far away. He was still easy to rile up and hated someone having authority over him (I’m a dragon, no one can boss me around), but he was also gaining the ability to read other people, and maybe the changes were small, but they were still there.

Yugo thought about the little ticks made with chalk on one of the pillars near the bathroom, where Yugo would check his height every year to see how much he’d grown. He hasn’t checked it in two years, and for some reason, a giddy feeling arose in his throat at the prospect of pulling out physical evidence that he was, in fact, growing, and that he wasn’t stuck in time. Because he’s come to the conclusion that even though he looked young, the fact of the matter was that he had nothing to prove to anyone. Seeing Amalia had confirmed that. Just because he looked little didn’t mean his friends treated him as such. They saw him for who he was, and though he still left a longing in his chest when he thought about the future, he pushed those thoughts aside. He wasn’t stuck, and he wasn’t going to get himself stuck any time soon.

“What could you possibly be thinking about now?” Adamai murmured irritably, burying his snout into his pillow and giving Yugo a tired side-glare.

He chuckled lightly.

“About growing up.”

**Author's Note:**

> it always shocks me just how long these two will live, and i know i failed to mention how they would eventually lose Alibert too and how Yugo would probably not get over it as quickly but,,,, that was a hole i did NOT want to dig.  
> there's a million and one things wrong with this but please take it in stride and maybe some advil


End file.
